Improving Classroom Practices Using Our Knowledge of How the Brain Works

International Journal Journal of Environmental of Environmental & Science & Educat Scienceion Education Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2012, 71-81 Vol. 3, No. 3, July 2008, xx-xx Improving classroom practices using our knowledge of how the brain works Oduola O. Abiola Hakirat S. Dhindsa Received 24 November 2010; Accepted 11 March 2011 During the last decade of the 20th century (the decade of the brain) large sums of money were spent in researching how the brain works in relation to our day-to-day activities. As a result, we now know to a much greater extent the roles played by various regions of the brain when we are carrying out various activities including learning. We also know that different types of rewards and instruments can stimulate specific parts of the brain which ena- ble individuals to carry out their daily chores efficiently. These findings when applied to a classroom learning situation, which is a step forward from theory to practice, might make it possible for us to improve learning for all learners. Thus, in this presentation we plan to combine our knowledge of how the brain functions with those of the other scientific disci- plines to provide teachers with the tools they may need to be more effective and efficient teachers. More specifically, this paper aims to lay a foundation for an interfaculty collabo- ration in UBD towards helping teachers improve their thinking skills which in our opinion are of great importance to fostering their classroom practices. Keywords: attitudes, images of science and scientists, interest, popular science, school science and teachers Introduction According to Spanish foremost neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal, every man can, if he so desires, become the sculptor of his own brain. This underscores the immense potential of the brain to adapt to new experiences by the individual, a mechanism that is generally referred to as neuroplasticity or brain plasticity. Thus the brain has a tremendous ability to organise and reor- ganise itself by forming new connections between brain cells mostly neurons throughout life including old age. Studies have shown that the brain is able to do this based on a number of fac- tors which include the stage in the development cycle, genetic make up of the individual, the environment in which a person lives as well as the actions of that person. Notably brain plasticity occurs significantly, a) at the beginning of life when the immature brain organises itself; b) in case of an injury involving the brain to compensate for loss of function in the affected part(s) and/or maximise the remaining functions; and, c) through out adult life when something new is being learned. The brain is therefore able to adapt to meet the various challenges that a person may face at different stages and in varying experiences of life. ISSNfgjkl 1306-3065 Copyright © 2012 IJESE http://www.ijese.com/ 72 Abiola & Dhindsa Experimental observations in both humans and animals have shown that the brain pos- sesses a combination of fortuitous characteristics which has conferred on it this uniquely adapta- bility property. For example, in addition to neural plasticity, the brain has a large functionally uncommitted prefrontal, temporal and parietal cortices; the ability of their neural circuits (resulting from neuroplasicity), if trained to take on novel symbolic and non-symbolic skills; as well as a large prefrontal cortex which could use its working memory as a tuition management pad in which to train them (see Skoyles 1997). The mammalian brain is also known to exhibit a shift of function of anatomical structures if there is insufficiency in the ability of one part to perform its ‘traditional’ role. For example, in those born blind the visual cortex aids pointing of reference or bearing (Kujala et al 1995) and Braille reading (Sadato et al 1996, Uhl et al 1991); amputees experience remapping when somatosensory and motor maps invade areas that have lost their functions (Yang et al 1994); the functions of a motor cortex destroyed by brain tumours can be taken over by other motor and non-motor areas of the brain (Seitz et al 1995). This is not limited to humans as; in experimental animals similar phenomena do occur. For example in ferrets, visual input which is experimentally redirected to the somatosensory cortex causes it to develop into ‘visual cortex’ (Roe et al 1991) and, in the blind mole rat, auditory input has been evolutionarily redirected to the visual cortex causing it to function as ‘auditory cortex’ (Doron and Wollberg 1994). Another case which has demonstrated the effect of training or retraining on brain plasticity is that of a surgeon in his 50s who suffered a stroke and had his left arm paralysed. During his rehabilitation, his unaffected arm and hand were immobilized, while he was set to cleaning ta- bles. This was at first almost an impossible task but slowly the stroke affected arm started to re- spond to the various activities as if to ‘remember’ how too move. He also learnt to write again and is able to play tennis again (see http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/02/26/brain- plasticity-how-learning-changes-your-brain/). The most parsimonious explanation for this is that the functions of the brain areas that were destroyed by the stroke have now been taken over by other regions of the brain. It is apparent that the process is helped by stimulating activities or training. Neurons in the frontoparietal mirror system constitute an interesting model in this re- spect. These neurons fire when one performs an action and when one observes someone else performing that same action. The system is thought to have a role in social cognition and, per- haps, in language acquisition. While is unclear how the mirror neurons map sensory input onto its motor representation Catmur et al (2007) have demonstrated that these representations are not innate and can be altered by training. In our opinion, this system can be targeted by teacher when they are teaching procedure related subjects, topics and/or skills: during such a session students could view demonstrators live or in a video while also carrying out the same procedures almost simultaneously. Brain Plasticity, Exercises, Learning and Memory For a long time, it was believed that as we aged, the connections in the brain became fixed. Re- search has however shown that in fact the brain never stops changing through learning. Rather than being predetermined the neural networks in the brain underlying cognition are open to proc- essing new skills (Skoyles 1997). Indeed studies have shown that the brain has a phenomenal capacity to change with learning. Thus a number of normal daily activities are known to elicit brain plasticity. For example, it has been demonstrated by van Praag et al (1999) that physical exercises improve learning and memory by a process of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of the mammalian adult brain. This is a process which literarily ‘gives birth’ to new cells in the adult brain. Until recently the dogma is that the brain does not give birth to new cells: we now know that nothing can be farther from the truth. Thus, physical exercise, in addition to increasing the general blood flow to the various parts of the body including the brain has an effect in increasing How the Brain Works 73 the generation of new brain cells. This increases the capacity of the brain for learning and memory activities. It is intriguing that changes associated with learning occur mostly at the level of the connections between neurons and as new connections are formed the internal structures of the existing synapses change. A result of this phenomenon is that when a person becomes an ‘expert’ in a specific domain, the areas of the brain that deal with the types of skill involved will grow remarkably. For instance according to Maguire et al (2000), London taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus (in the posterior region) than London bus drivers. Why is this? The explanation is that this region of the hippocampus is specialised in acquiring and using complex spatial informa- tion in order to navigate efficiently. Obviously taxi drivers have to navigate around London while bus drivers follow a limited set of routes. Other human activities involving learning have also being linked to brain plasticity. For example, Mechelli et al (2004) observed plasticity in the brains of bilinguals and concluded that it appears that learning a second language is made possible through functional changes in the brain: the left inferior parietal cortex is larger in the brains of bilinguals than in those of monolinguals. Plastic changes also occur in musicians’ brains compared to non-musicians’. Gaser and Schlaug (2003) compared professional musicians who practiced at least 1hour per day to amateur musicians and non-musicians. They found that the gray matter (cortex) volume was highest in professional musicians, intermediate in amateur musicians, and lowest in non-musicians in several brain areas involved in playing music: motor regions, anterior superior parietal areas and inferior temporal areas. Finally, it does appear that the nature of the material being learned and the intensity of learning activity parallel resulting brain plasticity. Thus extensive learning of abstract informa- tion can trigger plastic changes in the brain (Draganski et al 2006). They imaged the brains of German medical students three months prior to their medical exam and immediately after the exam comparing them to the brains of students who were not studying for exam at the time. Medical students’ brains showed learning-induced changes in regions of the parietal cortex as well as in the posterior hippocampus.

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